Cult of Shadow
Organsation Profile Organisation Breif The Cult of Shadow practices the three virtues Respect The universe is the physical manifestation of other's wills. Thus, for a person to denigrate the universe is to ignore the personal power of those around them. This is not only disrespectful, it is dangerous. A follower of the Forgotten Shadow must develop his personal power in order to exert his will on the universe, but seeking too much power too quickly puts him in conflict with other, stronger beings. Only a foolish follower seeks to challenge his superiors right away. Showing respect ensures a measure of self-protection. Tenacity Followers of the Forgotten Shadow put even greater stock in the virtue of tenacity. It may at first seem impossible for a person to change the universe when countless others seeking to do the same surround him. Through unwavering perseverance and tenacity though, they may triumph. Power Power is the third virtue of the Forgotten Shadow, and the most difficult to attain. A Forsaken who grabs greedily for power might encounter power too great for him or her to handle, and die in their attempt to master it. A Forsaken who succumbs to despair and seeks no personal power has no reason to exist; he craves nothing, desires nothing, he sits alone and pines for his old life. To the cult, Forsaken who do not seek to better themselves might as well still be part of the Scourge. The quest for power requires caution, forethought, and a subtle touch. Other Virtues Some branches of the Forgotten Shadow consider death to be a fourth virtue; most consider it sub-virtue of power. Additionally some members of the Forgotten Shadow still show a limited yet twisted version of the virtue of Compassion (one of the Holy Light's main virtues). Death A Forsaken reaches the pinnacle of power when he masters death itself, transcends it. This power over death requires the same delicate touch of any other power. A Forsaken must not kill indiscriminately, nor can he withhold death from the weak. To kill wantonly escalates the Forsaken's risk of encountering power too great for him to overcome. It also robs him of his strength; a Forsaken who spends all day slaying wildlife and human peasants might exhaust his power, and be left defenseless when a true threat arises. Likewise, a Forsaken who shows mercy to the weak and forgoes regular exercise of his power may gain a reputation for weakness himself. This draws predators and offends the cult. He must always preserve a balance. Compassion Despite their mercenary outlook, the cult possesses a streak of compassion. The living world fears and shuns the living dead, and who can blame them? The cult understands the plight of the Forsaken and wishes to ease their burden if only a little. This compassion tempers even the most heartless priest - though compassion is limited to the Forsaken. Ascension The ultimate goal of practitioners of the Forgotten Shadow is to ascend. Ascension occurs once a person achieves complete control over his/herself and the power to transcend death. A Forsaken who ascends becomes invulnerable, invincible and eternal. In essence, he/she becomes a god. The Cult of Forgotten Shadow teaches that the Forsaken of Azeroth were too weak to ascend. Their undead state is a curse brought on by that weakness. Once the Forsaken learn to master themselves and control the world around them, they shake off that curse and become what they always should have been. Those on the path to ascension often become shadow ascendants. Divine Humanism Instead of seeing both a self and a universe and seeking to create a bond between them through compassion, the Forgotten Shadow preaches a much more self-oriented idea. Priests preach that the self has power over the universe, and the universe revolves around the self. They preach that if an undead was powerful enough to rise from the grave on their own freewill, and become sentient, the undead may strengthen himself by increasing his control of the world around him, thus becoming more godlike. Many priests dub this concept "divine humanism". Divine humanism is the concept that the self shapes the universe. In essence, each sentient creature in the world is a tiny god, able to exert her will to manifest small changes in the universe. A minor example of divine humanism might be something as simple as mood. The Holy Light teaches that to be happy, one must work to better the universe, and the effort of reflecting joy back through the universal bond spreads happiness. However, divine humanism notes that an angry individual who shows his/her rage triggers anger in those around him/her. She does not change some insubstantial universe "out there" - he/she makes a choice and others sense the strength of her emotions and change themselves. In short, the Holy Light teaches that by changing the universe, you change those around you. The Forgotten shadow teaches that by using your power, you can change those around you and change the universe. Power is key, not some mythical bond. Balance between Light and Shadow While the undead can no longer use the Holy Light, and have learned how to use the Shadow, they also preach that there must be a balance between Light and Shadow, and that they must learn the Light as well, but never forget they were born from the Shadow. Detailed Ranks: *'Prophet': The Prophet is the leader of the Cult, she guides the Cult and its members towards Ascension, her words can be considered the will of the Forgotten Shadow. *'Shadowpope': The second highest ranking member within the Cult ICly, the Shadowpope is the spiritual leader of the Cult in the absence of the Prophet. (Officer rank) *'Darkcaller': The Darkcallers are the leaders of the Cult, taking care of many of the tasks within the Cult. (Officer rank) *'Chosen': An umbrella rank for factions within the Cult, notable amongst which: The Lightslayers and the Inquisition. *'Cultist': A Cultist is a member of the Cult who has chosen to indulge in its teachings, they preach their faith to others and are considered quite knowledgeable of our religion. *'Deathblade': The Deathblade is a proven member of the Deathblade militia, he has taken it up to himself to defend the faith, the Forsaken, and the Prophet, this does not mean however that they are lacking in knowledge of the Virtues as it is considered a basic necessity to know and understand them. *'Acolyte': An Acolyte is a newly inducted member within the Cult who seeks to learn as much as possible of the Virtues so that they may, amongst others, once preach their faith. *'Recruit': A Recruit is a newly inducted member within the Cult who has come to the revelation that armed force will sometimes be necessary to defend the Cult, yet this member has yet to prove himself within the militia. *'Citizen': The Citizen is the rank one gains upon a guild invite, it is that of a Citizen who follows the Cult's teachings but has yet to choose whether to indulge in the teachings or to take up arms for the Faith. It is, of course, possible to remain a Forsaken Citizen affiliated with the Cult and not join the more zealous parts of the Cult. As it can be seen, the cult is organized into three main sub-faction. *'The Deathblade millitia', which is the sub-faction which focus more upon sharing the virtue of Death, defending the Forsaken and the cult. Member of it must know the virtues by heart, and follow them truely, but aswell learn the art of battle. *'The Cultist side', which is the sub-faction which focus more upon preaching the virtues, exploring them and the art of the Forgotten shadow, explaining the virtues better. Member of it can know the art of war aswell, and fight for the Virtues, the Forgotten shadow and the Forsaken nation, but above all it must Know the virtues very well, learn them every day, try to explore them into higher levels of knowledge, and be able to preach about them, the Forgotten Shadow, and the Forsaken. *'The chosen ones', which is the sub-faction of the cult's special parts, which includes within the Inquisition and more. Those usually know the art of the Cultist side of the cult, the Army side of the cult, and something beyond those two. Therefore, they are the Chosen ones. *Another part of the cult is the Death-Deliver Cells. This sub-faction is in charge of the Subtle attacks on the cult, Hit and run attacks, Special attacks, Kidnapation, Spreading fear, Spreading the Truth of the Forgotten shadow where it is stationed, and more. Lightslayers are prominently within the cells. Very dangerous! Footnote: This Cult practices what it preaches, Deathknell church is sacred to them. Unholy communion is often a peaceful affair. They despise all things Light-bound, as is the nature of their religion Forgotten Shadow. Extremely dangerous, caution must be adhered to if approached. They will retaliate after the dissassembly of their Lightlsayer, all Agents be extra vigile. Criminal Record Necromancing: TBC Abducting: TBC Plague Spreading: TBC Experimentation: TBC Necromancing: TBC Inciting Anarchy: TBC Pictographical Cult01.jpg|Cult with Blademaster Krogon prepairing to burn Pyrewood Village Deathknell Church.jpg|Deathknell Church, Unholy communion is a regular event Apothecary.jpg|Apothecary Alexios prepares vials, note the lack of hardware due to Kor'Kron Overseers removing vast amounts of equipment Meatwagon.jpg|Meat Wagon was utilised to collect corpses from the recent wetland invasion Surveillance Record Tuesday 9th March - Unholy Communion at Deathknell church *30 Cultists attended, their prophet held the procession Monday 15th March - Lightslayer Visceril 8.0 maintenance *Regular maintenance at the Module Unit Lab in the War Quarter of The Undercity. Monday 25th March - Rasonal Dranger calls for Deathdeliver-Cell meeting in War Quarter *5 Attended, lasted for 4 hours, outcome unknown Wednesday 31st March - Apothecary Alexios, Shadowpope Thenkar and the Prophet Antistia seek counsel with Sylvanas *Outcome unknown Saturday 3rd April - Kor'Kron Overseer's continue to gather hardware, files and equipment from The Apothecarian *The arrival of vast amount of Kodo pulled carts steps up the Kor'Kron effort to transport crates full of Apothecarian equipment Tuesday 6th April - Acolytes sent to Apothecarian to retrieve equipment *Under the cover of night, Acolytes begin to ferry what remains of the equipment from the Apothecarian to the town of Brill. Wednesday 7th April - Brill transports. 5 cartloads of equipment *From Brill past the Bulwark and onto the western & eastern plaguelands all 5 carts stop for nothing. lost contact after Darrowshire Thursday 29th April - Prophet Antistia is summoned by Sylvanas *Outcome unknown Saturday 1st May - Lightslayer Visceril 8.0 seems disturbed, hastely leaves the Undercity *Outcome unknown Monday 3rd May - Attempt to gather intel on why the Cult removed what remained of The Apothecarian, cover comprimised *Following up on my 'Hunch' that the Cult are moving The Apothecarian my cover is comprimised by Dark Rangers Category:Organisations Category:Under Watch